After a tie vote from Chatham-Kent (CK) council concerning the governance of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), a notice of motion will bring the topic back to council.
During a 'special' council meeting held on February 2, council discussed a KPMG review, which recommended dissolving the PUC to become a Municipal Service Corporation.
At Monday night's council meeting, PUC Chair and Councillor Carmen McGregor, who voted against the KPMG review, put forward a notice of motion that asks the administration for more information through two reports.
Her motion will ask administration to produce a report that addresses concerns raised by councillors. The hope is to better inform councillors and see if this changes their opinion of the governance change. McGregor also asks that the report be tabled with the PUC for feedback and comments before returning to council.
Her motion also addresses options for changes to the composition of the PUC, including terms of reference or a bylaw to include a mix of municipal elected officials and skill-based members of the public.
She asks that that report include a summary of how the skill-based board would be recruited, any adjustments or clarification that are recommended regarding decision making between PUC and council, information about comparator examples in other municipalities that informed the terms of reference by-law and for details about how these processes could be used in the event that council chooses to proceed with a PUC governance change in the future.
The motion will be voted on at the March 9 council meeting.
